Archive for May 5, 2011

I came across this pictorial expose at ForeignPolicy.com earlier today titled “War Dogs.” It impressed me but it disturbed me too.

I don’t think dogs would go to war if they had a say.

IMHO, we humans have a responsibility not to take advantage of their loyalty and dedication — but given these photos, we might be.

What dogs are willing to — in order to gain our love — is amazing.

Check the pix out at the link above.

Here’s my favorite. I would caption it: Trust.

Above, a U.S. soldier with the 10th Special Forces Group and his dog leap off the ramp of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during water training over the Gulf of Mexico as part of exercise Emerald Warrior on March 1.

Gov. Scott Walker has signed a bill that prohibits local governments from passing ordinances guaranteeing workers’ paid sick and family leave…Walker, a Republican, says in a statement the bill removes another barrier to creating jobs.

Exxon Mobil is by far the most profitable company in the new Fortune 500 list, riding “high oil prices to a staggering $30 billion in income” in 2010. Exxon made over $10 billion more than fellow oil giant Chevron, the third most profitable company (AT&T edged out Chevron for the number two spot). ConocoPhillips’ $11.4 billion in profits put it in the 16th spot, giving the three oil giants a combined $60.9 billion in profits in 2010.

Today, the Republicans in the House of Representatives celebrated this massive redistribution of wealth from American families to oil executives. With the support of 7 oil-patch Democrats, 234 Republicans voted to block a bill to eliminate a $1.8 billion annual subsidy that treats oil drilling as “domestic manufacturing.”

House Republicans say they have no plans to follow the Senate in passing a resolution honoring the military mission that killed Osama bin Laden.

The decision by GOP leaders follows new rules they enacted in January scrapping the tradition of congratulatory measures, which they complained clogged up the House floor.

The Senate on Tuesday passed a resolution, 97-0, commending “the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the United States intelligence community for the tremendous commitment, perseverance, professionalism and sacrifice they displayed in bringing Osama bin Laden to justice.”

Three days ago, Ad Age magazine released information as to FBN’s ratings:

Advertising Age writes about Fox Business Network, including a look at how it is performing during the crucial stock market hours.Ad Age writes that from 9:30 AM to 4 PM, FBN averaged around 64,000 total viewers. While this is a significant improvement over the estimated 37,000 that tuned in a year earlier, it is still far behind CNBC, which averages 273,000 people.

(My emphasis.)

So, after nearly four years, FBN averages 64,000 total viewers for the 6-1/2 hours between 9:30 a.m. ET and 4:00 p.m. Now that’s pitiful.

Fast forward to today and this would be Fox Business guy Eric Bolling, looking like an idiot standing along the route President Obama traveled while he was in New York City:

Hey, when you have as many viewers in a day as some bloggers have hits, you gotta do what you gotta do.

This is Jim Rogers — who is seen as something of a pariah in the American business community because he tends to tell the truth — on CNBC this morning:

Oil prices are likely to continue rising because the world’s oil reserves are dwindling, but silver is likely to come down because it rose too fast, famous investor and commodities bull Jim Rogers told CNBC Thursday.

In March,Rogers predicted that crude prices will rise over the next decade.

“Where is the oil? I still want to know where is the oil? You know why the price of oil is going up? Because there is no oil,” he said.

But if the price is going too high, the race to find the last drops of crude will accentuate, before the search for alternative energy resources yields results, according to Rogers.

“At $300 a barrel they would be drilling for oil under Buckingham palace,” he said.

The International Energy Agency “has come to the conclusion that the world’s oil reserves decline by six percent a year,” and that is an argument for the rising price of crude, Rogers said.

“Say they don’t decline by six percent, say they decline by four percent. That means in 25 years there’s no oil at any price,” he said, adding that rising oil prices will “hurt some people very badly” and some companies will go out of business.

“We will certainly have dips (in oil prices), we will certainly have consolidation, I hope we do. If oil goes into a spike, if it goes parabolic, you have to sell it,” Rogers said.

The world uses 86 million barrels of oil every day, he pointed out, adding: “we found some big oil fields in Brazil and let’s say the bull estimates there are correct, that’s still only two years worth.”

If you have seven minutes, take the time to watch this new video from Brave New Foundation. It’s about the Koch brothers, you know, the guys who make $13 million every single day; what their life is like compared to yours and mine and it asks, why do they want to destroy programs that benefit average Americans?